Meal Planning 101
Why Should I Meal Plan?
Reduce stress and anxiety around eating and makes it easier to stick to your goals. If you have a plan that has already taken into consideration all the various potential barriers that arise throughout a normal week, there is less chance you will have to reach for convenience or fast food or miss meals altogether (yikes!). Your confidence in your choices and your ability to accomplish your goals will increase, reducing overall anxiety and stress related to your eating.
Save time and money. At this time in our world, time and money are precious. When we go to the store with a plan, we are much less likely to purchase things that are not on the list which helps create a supportive environment at home and reduce spending on unnecessary items.
Reduce food waste. Sometimes, even when our intentions are good, we can go overboard with purchasing even fresh fruits and vegetables and I cannot tell you how many times I have heard “I buy them, but they just go to waste.” Picture this: You have decided you are going to “eat really healthy” this week so you purchase a ton of fresh fruits and vegetables at the store, but you have not done any planning on HOW you’re going to use them throughout the week. The week goes by and for one reason or another, you haven’t even eaten half of them…they go in the trash. I HATE FOOD WASTE. It is one of my biggest pet peeves. Meal planning can help with this as well because you will only be purchasing the fresh food you need for the week according to your plan.
How Do I Meal Plan?
Meal planning is a learned skill and can take time to get really good at it, but I promise you it gets easier and easier and the stress and work it takes off your plate is so worth it. To get you started I have come up with a few steps that will have you meal planning like a pro in no time. Steps to Meal Planning:
Brainstorming:
Pick a day each week that works for you that will be your typical meal planning day. It does not necessarily have to be the same day you go buy the groceries. Look at your calendar for the week to see how much time you might have each day to actually prep or cook your meals. Do you need to think about a crock pot meal, or do you have time to prepare something from scratch when you get home? Is there any prep you can do ahead of time to make it easier?
Check the weather. I know this is maybe an odd step, but I find warm meals more satisfying than cold in the winter months. Also, if you’re planning something like grilling in the summer months, you don’t want to plan that for a day it’s going to rain. Of course we can’t guarantee the weather, but at least we’re trying to avoid any barriers.
Try to plan foods you can use for multiple meals that same week. This could be something as simple as leftovers or it could be making a large pot of shredded chicken to use in multiple different meals (example: burrito bowls and chicken Caesar wraps) or brown rice as a base for a couple of different meals that week. I am a huge fan of cooking once and eating many times.
Meal Planning. It is going to be different for each person and may be different from week to week, especially if there are several days you are away from home for some reason that week. As a basic recommendation, aim to plan at least 4-5 main meals, 2-3 different breakfast options, and 2-3 snack options each week. These may just be pantry items you have on hand like oatmeal, or you may choose to make a breakfast bake for the week. Plan to make more than what you or your family may eat and use leftovers for lunch as well as a fun leftover meal for the week when you clean out the fridge.
Create your grocery list and go shopping.
Prep. When you get home, figure out what you may be able to make or prep ahead of time to prepare for the week. There are a lot of foods that can be made ahead in bulk and utilized in different ways for different meals and snacks. Grains, pasta, shredded chicken, or other meats. You prep your fruits and vegetables – washing, chopping, etc. so they are easy to grab and go or throw into your meals and snacks. Are there full recipes you love for grab and go breakfast or lunch options that you can take some time and make ahead?
Other Helpful Tips:
If there are recipes you love, keep them in one central place where you can reference for future meal planning and inspiration. If you have kids, it can be fun to write the names of the recipes on popsicle sticks and let them pick one out of a jar each week. It’s fun for them and it takes some of the stress off you to come up with the full menu on your own.
Include your favorite recipes, even if you think they don’t fall into the “healthy” category. Think about what you could pair them with to balance that out. For example, if your mother always made the best lasagna (throwing out a random food that came to my mind, not identifying lasagna as good or bad here) can you pair it with some delicious roasted vegetables? Think about what you can add to the meal to crowd out the plate so you can have a smaller serving of the less healthy option than you may have had if you just had the “insert less healthy option here” by itself.
If getting to the store is difficult for you or you just don’t enjoy it, try a grocery pick up or delivery service. A lot of the store’s apps will keep a list of your regularly purchased items, which is super helpful when adding food to your cart for the next week. I have been doing grocery pick up since the pandemic in 2020 and I am never looking back! I can keep my running grocery list on my app all week and hit order on Sunday for pick up on Monday. That is what works for me. Find what works for you!
If you’re making a casserole, soup, or something else that can be frozen such as a protein like meatballs, double your recipe and freeze it for another day when you are running low on time.
Utilize frozen or even canned vegetables, rotisserie chicken, precut fruit from the store, frozen entrees, etc. to create a “halfway homemade” meal when you need to come up with something quick. Read your nutrition labels. There are a lot of decent options out there and there is nothing wrong with utilizing them, especially in the place of take-out or fast food.
Don’t forget to plan some “fun foods” like a little dessert. Deciding certain foods are completely off limits to you will lead to feelings of deprivation and most likely will lead to binging on them once you have the chance to have them. I love chocolate so, for me, I include a small square of chocolate or one of my kids “insert recent holiday here” treats, after my meals as a little dessert. Remember, all foods can work in a healthy diet and the more you allow yourself to have those foods, the less likely you will be to overeat.
Getting your meal planning down can take some practice, especially if this is something that is new to you. Just remember, you don’t have to plan out everything you make for the week, just make sure you have the components you need to build your meals around and start there. You can start by taking it slowly, identifying your toughest meal and just starting there. Then begin to add in other meals or snacks when you have that down.
If you need help with understanding your unique nutritional needs, deciphering all the nutrition information that is out there, meal planning, accountability and support, or anything else nutrition and exercise related, I am your girl! Reach out at info@ndweightloss.com or schedule a visit here.
Best of health,
Elise Smith, RD, LRD, CPT